In current wireless communication systems, faulty antenna(s) may result in loss of diversity gain and thus reduced coverage, even increase number of drops during call set-up and handovers. Hence, detection of faulty antennas is of great importance.
A conventional faulty antenna detecting system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,496B1, wherein the system is adapted to detect a standing wave caused by a reflected wave generated at a trouble point of an antenna system, and comprises a distributing means for branching outputs of the reflected wave for detection, a plurality of detectors connected to respective outputs of the distributing means for detecting voltage value of the standing wave, and a control circuit connected to the detectors for receiving output of each detector to judge fault of the antenna system by processing the detection results.
The main drawback of the above-described conventional technique for detecting faulty antenna(s) is that a plurality of external devices are needed, such as the distributing means, the detectors, and the control circuits. Thus, hardware and software cost will be increased, and extra transmit power and time slots are needed for the detection.